Latest news with #PetandLivestockProtectionAct
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to delist wolves advances in U.S. House
CHIPPEWA FALLS — A bill that would delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act is moving forward in Congress after it passed through a key committee in the U.S. House. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minosqua, gained approval in the House Natural Resources Committee. Tiffany introduced a similar measure last year, but Tiffany previously told the Leader-Telegram he's more confident it will pass this time around, now that Republicans control the House, Senate and presidency. The bill is dubbed the 'Pet and Livestock Protection Act' and will now head to the full U.S. House for a vote. Tiffany wrote in a press release that he's excited about clearing this first hurdle. 'The damage to pets, livestock, and wildlife from an unmanaged wolf population can no longer be ignored,' Tiffany wrote Wednesday night. 'The gray wolf has exceeded federal and state recovery goals, with over 1,000 wolves now thriving in Wisconsin. It's time to take the next step, delist them, and let the people closest to the gray wolf manage their population levels.' U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is a co-sponsor of the legislation. 'The science has been very clear on this topic for years: gray wolves are fully recovered and their comeback should be touted as a success story,' Boebert wrote. 'Now it's time we encourage states to set their own guidelines and allow ranchers, farmers, and landowners to protect their livelihoods. I look forward to voting for this bill on the House floor and ultimately getting it to President Trump for his signature.' The Pet and Livestock Protection Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2020 Department of the Interior final rule that delisted gray wolves in the lower 48 United States. It also ensures this rule cannot be overturned through judicial review, preventing activist judges, like the California judge who vacated the rule in 2022, from relisting the gray wolf by judicial fiat, the press release states. With more than 6,000 wolves at the time of delisting, 'the gray wolf has been the latest Endangered Species Act (ESA) success story with significant population recoveries in the Rocky Mountains and western Great Lakes regions,' the press release reads. However, a California judge overturned the rule in 2022 and relisted the gray wolf. Meanwhile, the wolf population in Wisconsin has increased each of the past three years. There have been numerous gray wolf attacks in Wisconsin's Seventh District over the last few years, the press release states. A total of 30 House members are co-sponsors of the bill, including Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and the other four Republican congressmen from Wisconsin. Supporters of the measure include the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), Public Lands Council (PLC), National Rifle Association (NRA), Safari Club International (SCI), Hunter Nation, International Order of T. Roosevelt (IOTR), Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Blacktail Deer Foundation, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association, and Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association. Last year, four Democrats joined 205 Republicans in voting for it, but the measure stalled in the Senate, which was under Democratic control at the time.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin, Colorado Lawmakers Move to Delist Gray Wolves Across the Lower 48
Congressmen from Wisconsin and Colorado introduced a bill Friday that seeks to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act across the Lower 48 and return management to the states. The language of the bill would also prohibit courts from reviewing and potentially blocking the order. In 2020 gray wolves in the Upper Midwest were delisted in the final days of the first Trump administration, until a federal judge in California overturned the decision in 2022. Pet and livestock conflicts with wolves have risen sharply in recent years, with more than 100 domestic animals confirmed killed or injured by wolves in Wisconsin in 2024 alone. This most recent delisting attempt for gray wolves was expected. It was introduced by representatives Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Tom Tiffany (R-WI). Except in name, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act is virtually identical to a bill introduced by Boebert in the previous Congress. The Trust the Science Act passed the Republican-controlled House in Spring 2024 but failed to pass the Senate, where Democrats held a majority. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act is cosponsored by 30 representatives and has a good chance of passing both chambers of Congress. Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies — which include Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Washington and Oregon, and north-central Utah — are already delisted with management controlled by the states. The bill would not affect the endangered status of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. 'Gray wolves are threatening the livelihoods of our ranchers and farmers with attacks on livestock because our agriculture community has their hands tied by out-of-date policies and progressive legal activism,' Boebert said in a statement issued by her office Friday. 'This bill enacts a common-sense solution shared by administrations of both parties and prioritizes the strength of our agriculture community over predators.' Wolf management in Boebert's state has been a hot-button issue as Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been tasked with reintroducing wolves. Currently, gray wolves in Colorado are listed as both endangered under the ESA and as an experimental population. Delisting wouldn't reverse Colorado's state-level voter-mandate to reintroduce wolves and maintain a population, but it should theoretically allow more flexibility for lethal management as wolves continue to harass livestock in rural counties. Related: As Wolf Management Debate Reaches a Fever Pitch, the Interior Department Hires a National Mediator Gray wolf populations in the Western Great Lakes have well exceeded recovery goals and currently form the largest population of wolves in the contiguous U.S. An estimated total of 4,200 wolves roamed Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2024—more than three times the original recovery goals of 1,200 wolves for Minnesota and a total of 150 wolves in Wisconsin and Michigan. Although the Biden administration initially signaled an interest in delisting Midwestern gray wolves in September, the USFWS ultimately denied delisting requests last month. 'Scientific data, coupled with the rise in wolf attacks in Wisconsin, confirms that the gray wolf population has exceeded recovery goals,' Congressman Tiffany said in a joint statement with Boebert. 'Yet, activist judges continue to disregard these facts, leaving livestock, pets, wildlife, and communities vulnerable to further harm. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act will restore management to those who understand local needs best – state wildlife officials – and ensure that out-of-state judges can no longer dictate how Wisconsin manages its wolf population.' There are an estimated 1,000 wolves comprising roughly 300 packs in Wisconsin. While there are no documented modern wolf attacks on humans there, reports the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, pet and livestock depredation has been on the rise in the state. This fall, a Wisconsin duck hunter shot and killed one of several wolves that surrounded his blind. In 2024 alone there were 113 domestic animals involved in confirmed or suspected wolf depredations in Wisconsin. That figure includes livestock, pet dogs, and at least 34 hunting dogs that were killed or injured in 2024. Officials have already confirmed five separate wolf depredations of Wisconsin dogs this year. Hunting dogs, particularly bear hounds, are at the highest risk from wolves and the Pet and Livestock Protection Act has support from the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association. Other supporters of the bill include a number of stockgrowers associations, as well as Safari Club International, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, and the new Blacktail Deer Foundation. Anti-hunting environmental groups like the Center for Biological Diversity have historically sued to block ESA delisting attempts. The ESA is a tool designed to help struggling species recover, but species are not intended to remain on the list indefinitely. Delisting usually signals a conservation success story for self-sustaining populations rather than a loss of critical protections. 'Four efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and its cooperators to delist or down-list gray wolves in the western Great Lakes states have been foiled or reversed by litigation typically based on legal technicalities rather than biology,' a team of 50-plus wildlife professionals and scientists wrote in an open letter to the DOI in 2015. 'For those of us who have worked on and supported wolf and wildlife conservation issues for many years, it is ironic and discouraging that wolf delisting not occurred in the portions of the Midwest where biological success has been achieved as a consequence of four decades of dedicated science-based work by wildlife management professionals.' Read Next: A Michigan Wolf Attacked My Dog, Then Charged Me Friday's bill only specifies canis lupus, the gray wolf and should not affect the current endangered status of red wolves, or canis rufus. Similarly, Mexican gray wolves are a subspecies of gray wolf, and canis lupus balieyi is not named in the short two-page text of the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. The current bill only seeks to reissue the 2020 DOI final rule of the that delisted gray wolves in the lower 48, which specifically excluded Mexican wolves. There were at least 257 Mexican wolves ranging across Arizona and New Mexico as of March 2023. While Mexican wolves have been exceeding recovery milestones in the U.S., the distinct population in Mexico required for delisting is not recovering as hoped, according to a December statement from the USFWS.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tiffany introduces bill to de-list wolves
CHIPPEWA FALLS — U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minoqua, has once again introduced a bill to delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act. While he introduced a similar measure last year, Tiffany told the Leader-Telegram last month that he's more confident it will pass this time around, now that Republicans control the House, Senate and presidency. The measure, dubbed 'The Pet and Livestock Protection Act,' is not subject to judicial review, and it would restore authority back to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials to control the gray wolf population. 'Scientific data, coupled with the rise in wolf attacks in Wisconsin, confirms that the gray wolf population has exceeded recovery goals,' Tiffany said in his announcement to reintroduce the bill. 'Yet, activist judges continue to disregard these facts, leaving livestock, pets, wildlife, and communities vulnerable to further harm. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act will restore management to those who understand local needs best — state wildlife officials — and ensure that out-of-state judges can no longer dictate how Wisconsin manages its wolf population.' Tiffany said he's supported delisting wolves in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region since 2011, going back to when he was a state senator. Hunters have seen a notable drop in deer numbers, as wolves are culling them and reducing their numbers, Tiffany added. When Sen. Tammy Baldwin stopped at a Fall Creek-area farm before the election, she said she generally supports the delisting proposal. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is a co-sponsor on the bill. 'Gray wolves are threatening the livelihoods of our ranchers and farmers with attacks on livestock because our agriculture community has their hands tied by out-of-date policies and progressive legal activism,' Boebert said. 'This bill enacts a common-sense solution shared by administrations of both parties and prioritizes the strength of our agriculture community over predators. 'I'm proud to join with Rep. Tiffany again on this important legislation for our farmers and ranchers and deliver a major victory for our country's agriculture community,' The Pet and Livestock Protection Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2020 Department of the Interior final rule that delisted gray wolves in the lower 48 United States. It also ensures this rule cannot be overturned through judicial review, preventing activist judges, like the California judge who vacated the rule in 2022, from relisting the gray wolf by judicial fiat, the press release states. With more than 6,000 wolves at the time of delisting, 'the gray wolf has been the latest Endangered Species Act (ESA) success story with significant population recoveries in the Rocky Mountains and western Great Lakes regions,' the press release reads. However, a California judge overturned the rule in 2022 and relisted the gray wolf. Meanwhile, the wolf population in Wisconsin has increased each of the past three years. There have been numerous gray wolf attacks in Wisconsin's Seventh District over the last few years, the press release states. A total of 30 House members are co-sponsors of the bill, including Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and the other four Republican congressmen from Wisconsin. Supporters of the measure include the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), Public Lands Council (PLC), National Rifle Association (NRA), Safari Club International (SCI), Hunter Nation, International Order of T. Roosevelt (IOTR), Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Blacktail Deer Foundation, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association, and Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association. Last year, four Democrats joined 205 Republicans in voting for it, but the measure stalled in the Senate, which was under Democratic control at the time.
USA Today
31-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Republicans in Congress introduce bill to remove gray wolf from federal protections
Republicans in Congress including Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin on Friday renewed their legislative effort to remove the gray wolf in Wisconsin and most other states from protections of the federal Endangered Species Act. The legislators introduced a bill tabbed the "Pet and Livestock Protection Act" to delist the wolf and ensure the action is not subject to judicial review. If successful, it would allow state management authority for wolves, including lethal control through hunting and trapping seasons and removal efforts by U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. In a statement, Tiffany said the legislation would "restore management to those who understand local needs best – state wildlife officials – and ensure that out-of-state judges can no longer dictate how Wisconsin manages its wolf population." The proposal was introduced by Tiffany and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) and cosponsored by 30 other House Repubicans, including Wisconsin Reps. Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden and Tony Wied. It is identical to a bill Tiffany and Boebert introduced in the last session of Congress. Then called the "Trust the Science Act" it passed the House in April 2024 on a 209-205 vote but failed to pass the Senate, then controlled by Democrats. The bill is backed by various hunter and gun advocacy organizations, including the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Safari Club International. It is opposed by Animal Wellness Action. Other animal advocacy and environmental groups will likely register their opposition in the coming days; most didn't have time Friday to review or respond to the bill. The wolf has see-sawed between ESA protections and state management in recent decades, including delistings in 2012 during the administration of Pres. Barack Obama and 2020 under Pres. Donald Trump. The most recent chapter of federal protection stems from a February 2022 decision by Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. White ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without ESA protections and the agency's "analysis relied on two core wolf populations to delist wolves nationally and failed to provide a reasonable interpretation of the 'significant portion of its range' standard." The ruling marked the fourth time since 2003 wolves in Wisconsin have been placed back under federal ESA protections. In the last decade, Wisconsin had state authority over the species from 2012-14 and January 2021 to Feb. 2022. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has appealed the decision. In the most recent estimate, Wisconsin had 1,007 wolves in late winter 2023, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Wolf depredations of livestock have increased in Wisconsin for the last three years as non-lethal deterrents have lost their effectiveness, according to the USDA Wildlife Services. In 2024 the DNR recorded 84 cases of confirmed or probable wolf depredations, up from 69 in 2023 and 49 in 2022. Eighty-seven animals, including domestic livestock such as beef calves and hunting dogs such as bear hounds, were killed by wolves in the incidents recorded last year, according to the report. Twenty-seven others were injured. No wolf attack on a human has been documented in Wisconsin in modern times, according to the DNR. Most observers feel the prospect of a wolf delisting bill passing in this session of Congress is better than in the last since Republicans now have control in the House and Senate and Republican President Donald Trump. The GOP has spearheaded most recent efforts to delist the wolf. However in 2023 Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) introduced S.1788, a bill intended to delist the wolf in the Great Lakes region. It was supported by a range of livestock and agricultural interests, including the Wisconsin Cattleman's Association and Wisconsin Farmers Union, but failed to pass the Senate. It's not clear if Baldwin will reintroduce the bill in this session of Congress. Baldwin does plan to continue to meet with impacted stakeholders to map out next steps and is tracking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service appeal of the current ruling, according to Baldwin's office.
